2 Mark

Süderbrarup is a small market town in Schleswig, and in 1920 it sat in contested territory — the Schleswig Plebiscites of February and March that year were determining whether the region would remain German or transfer to Denmark. Notgeld issued by local businesses in this period was partly practical (small coin shortages were severe) and partly an assertion of local commercial life continuing regardless of the political outcome. Zone II, where Süderbrarup fell, voted to remain German in March 1920.

Viehhandlung Johs. Vogt — a livestock trading firm — issuing its own emergency currency is a reminder of how granular the Notgeld phenomenon became. No bank, no municipality: a cattle dealer backing paper with his own credit.